Not Guilty Plea Entered In 2018 Death Of 11-Month-Old
Posted
Amanda Bridgman-
COLUMBIA CITY – Sherry Leeman, of Pierceton, is going to trust the justice system to handle the babysitter charged with the April 12, 2018, death of her 11-month-old daughter, Emma Grace.
The wheels of justice started to turn May 29, 412 days after the incident, when 29-year-old Courtney Kincaid, of Columbia City, was arrested and charged with three felony counts in the death of Emma Grace.
Kincaid is charged with aggravated battery, a level 1 felony; neglect of a dependent resulting in death, a level 1 felony; and battery resulting in death to a person less than 14 years old, a level 2 felony. She appeared in front of Whitley County Circuit Court Judge Mathew Rentschler Monday morning, in street clothes and without counsel, and a preliminary plea of not guilty was entered on her behalf.
Kincaid has until her 9 a.m. July 1 court date to hire an attorney.
Kincaid's bond was set at $200,000; she put up $20,000 cash to bail out.
"I thought she was going to run," Leeman, of Pierceton, said when the victims advocate called to tell her of Kincaid bonding out. "I thought, 'She just paid 20 grand for her freedom.'"
It's been a long time coming to see Kincaid face a judge for the Leeman family and the group of people around them that rally for justice for Emma Grace.
"Courtney kept changing her story and it would lead to dead ends, so finally the police just said she's a liar, we're not going to keep interviewing her, so then the case relied solely on medical evidence," Leeman said of the length of time to get a probable cause.
According to that probable cause, Emma Grace suffered head trauma that caused extreme swelling on the brain. Surgery was required to alleviate that pressure, but Emma Grace did not survive. Fort Wayne Regional Medical Center Radiologist Dr. John Reed said "he considered the injuries caused to be more associated with a motor vehicle crash."
Kincaid has told police several different versions of what happened that day last year. According to the probable cause affidavit, Whitley County Sheriff's Department deputy Brandon Smith first responded to Kincaid's home.
“He attempted to make contact at the front door of the residence. He got no answer and the door was locked. He checked the other doors of the residence which were also locked. Once he returned to the front of the residence he was met by Courtney L. Kincaid” who was holding Emma Grace, according to the affidavit. Kincaid told police and EMS Emma Grace laid down for a nap and began coughing. When Kincaid when to check on her, she found her foaming at the mouth and limp. Kincaid also told first responders she did CPR on Emma Grace, although Kincaid was not actively performing CPR when medics arrived.
Police again interviewing Kincaid after Emma Grace was taken to the hospital. Kincaid then told police Emma Grace was napping and began to cough and choke. “She picked her up, brought her up to her shoulder," and noticed she was "heavy and limp." Kincaid said she moved Emma Grace to another place in the living room, called 911 and started giving her CPR per instructions from a dispatcher. "She said she shook her and hit her to get a response. She said there was foam/spit with white bubbles falling out of her mouth."
"When asked about recent history, Courtney said there was bruising" on Emma Grace's cheek and face two days ago. "She also told of a previous injury causing a black eye and a laceration" when Emma Grace "was pulling herself up onto a wood kitchen stool. She didn't know if she was pushed by another child or hit by the dog, causing her to hit her eye on the stool."
Dr. Darin Wolfe, a board certified forensic pathologist, conducted the autopsy and reported the cause of death to be "blunt force traumatic injuries to the head" and manner of death to be "homicide."
Dr. William Young is the neurosurgeon who performed the craniectomy on Emma Grace and commented to the significant force required to cause this magnitude of trauma. "He said he has seen this kind of catastrophic injury, but related it to a motor vehicle crash,” according to the affidavit.
Five days after the incident, Kincaid again spoke to police. According to the probable cause affidavit, "She told me she remembered that the children were all jumping off of the couches. She said that they would remove the cushions and put them on the hardwood floor. They would jump from the couches onto the cushions. She said that day, she heard a 'thud,' went to investigate and found her daughter's cheek was injured. She said she would tell (her daughter) was afraid to cry so she wouldn't get in trouble for rough housing. She suggested that maybe this is how Emma Grace may have been injured."
Kincaid then agreed to take a polygraph on Aug. 10.
During the polygraph examination, Kincaid was asked four questions:
1. Did you cause the injury to that girl? (answer: no);
2. Did you cause the injury to that girl while in your home? (answer: no);
3. Do you know for sure how that girl was injured? (answer: no);
4. Do you know for sure how that girl received her injury? (answer: no).
Kincaid understood that the phrase "that girl" referred to Emma Grace.
The results of the polygraph examination were “Deception Indicated.”
Indiana State Police Sgt. Mike Collins, who conducted the polygraph, then continued to interview Kincaid. Kincaid then told Collins that when Emma Grace went limp, she "panicked and dropped her because she couldn't hold onto her. She said this happened in the living room on a carpeted floor. She said Emma Grace was at shoulder height and when she fell she was face up and hit her head."
Collins told Kincaid her story did not add up. He then reinterviewed her. Kincaid then told Collins that "earlier that day, she and the kids were outside on the patio. The other kids bumped her leg, she lost her balance and lost grip of Emma Grace. She said she dropped Emma Grace onto the concrete patio."
"She said Emma Grace was asleep for about an hour when she noticed her moving her arm appearing to be waking up. Courtney picked Emma Grace up and noticed foam from Emma Grace's mouth and that she was limp. Courtney said that her whole body went numb and she dropped Emma Grace back onto the floor."
When police arrived at Kincaid's Columbia City home to examine the patio area Kincaid described at the polygraph, Kincaid's husband Bradly was home and not aware that Courtney had spoken with police about the incident or that she had taken a polygraph test.
Leeman has nothing to say to Kincaid except: "Tell the truth and plead guilty. Only she knows what really happened that day. We've suffered enough."
Calls to Kincaid's cellphone by the Times-Union were not returned.
Kincaid faces up to 110 years in prison if found guilty on all three charges.
